


Gazing At The Heavens

by SusieBeeca



Series: Amor Vincit Omnia [5]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Combat, Combat Injuries, F/F, Gem War, Homeworld (Steven Universe), Multi, Other, PTSD, Poetry, Song - Freeform, Songfic, Waltzing Matilda, War, chipped gem theory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 07:11:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12812349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SusieBeeca/pseuds/SusieBeeca
Summary: A wounded warrior sings about her experience back on Homeworld.Yes, it's a songfic/poem. Read on to see the original song associated with it.





	Gazing At The Heavens

When I was a young gem, I lived with my Pearl  
And I had the free life of a rover.  
From the North of the mountains, to the dusty underworld  
I gazed at the Heavens all over!

Then in Era point Five, My Diamond said “Hon,  
it’s time to stop wandering.  
There’s work to be done.”  
So they gave me a uniform  
And they gave me a gun…  
And I then went away to the war.

And I still gazed up to the Heavens  
As we all sailed away from our home  
And amidst all the tears,  
the flag-waving, and cheers,  
We sailed off to all Queendom-come.

How well I remember that terrible time  
When the blood stained the sand and the water  
And how in that Hell that they called “The First Line”  
We were butchered like chips at the slaughter.

The Rebels were ready, they primed themselves well  
They showered us with bullets, and they rained us with shells  
And in one minute flat they’d blown us all to Hell  
Nearly blew me right on back to our Homeworld!

And still I gazed up at the Heavens  
As we stopped to bury our slain  
And we buried ours, and the rebels did theirs  
…..then we started all over again.

Now, those who were living did their best to survive  
In that mad world of dust, blood, and fire.  
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive  
While around me the shattered piled higher.

 

Then a big rebel bomb knocked me halfway to bed!

And then my Pearl came,  
and she lifted my head.

I learned what it had done…

…Stars, I wished I was dead!

I never knew there were worse things than dying.

 

So no more I’ll go watching the Heavens  
Or the comets so far and so free  
For to gaze at starlight…  
_A gem needs her sight._  
No more watching the Heavens for me.

 

So they collected the crippled, the wounded, and maimed,  
And they shipped us back off to the Homeworld.  
The legless, the armless, the deaf, the insane  
All those who were wailing for their own Pearls.

And as our ship pulled into the Diamond Quay  
I touched at the place where my eyes used to be  
And thanked the Stars there was nobody waiting for me  
To grieve… or to mourn… or to pity.

And the Emeralds all gazed at the Heavens  
As they carried us down the gangway  
But nobody cheered. They just stood and stared.  
….then they turned all their faces away.

So now, in the Summer, I sit with my Love  
And she describes the parade that’s before me.  
“Oh, look, our old comrades!  
How proudly they march,  
Reliving the dreams of past glory.”  
I hear the old gems,  
All tired, stiff, and sore  
The forgotten heroes of a forgotten war.  
And the new gems, they ask me,  
“What are they marching for?”

….I ask myself the same question.

And I used to gaze up at the Heavens.  
And these old gems still answer the call.  
But year after year….  
Their numbers grow fewer.  
Someday, no one will march there at all.

**Author's Note:**

> https://youtu.be/cZqN1glz4JY
> 
> It's November, so remember to pay your respects to veterans! And thanks for reading. :)


End file.
